


In the quiet hours

by Amlovelies



Series: Fall for Unit Bravo Prompt Pieces [11]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Love Triangle, Nightmares, Physical Trauma, implied childhood neglect, lt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27564220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amlovelies/pseuds/Amlovelies
Summary: She sighs trying to banish the guilt that had overcame her while thinking of Nate. There are things she doesn’t want to remember. Memories and thoughts of green eyes that she wishes to replace with brown. Words whispered in a darkened room.“I wish it were only me.”
Relationships: Female Detective/Adam du Mortain, Female Detective/Nathaniel "Nate" Sewell
Series: Fall for Unit Bravo Prompt Pieces [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002750
Kudos: 9





	In the quiet hours

**Author's Note:**

> Written for wayhavenmontly's Fall For Unit Bravo over on tumblr  
> Day 11: Remember
> 
> takes place after the end of book 2, but before the book 3 demo

It’s been a few weeks since Dinah has found herself like this, shaken and bleary-eyed, residual adrenaline still fizzing through her veins making a return to sleep impossible. The clock on the microwave reads a little after three in the morning as she sets the kettle on. With a stretch and a yawn, she begins to dig through the cupboard for the box of chamomile tea she has saved for nights like this.

  
It was Murphy again. It always seems to be Murphy. What she wouldn’t give for an old-fashioned naked in front of the class nightmare. Instead, she gets woken up wracked with the phantom pain of her very blood changing. She runs a hand down her arm with a shudder her thumb brushing over the vein on the inside of her elbow. There are no scars for what was done to her, yet she knows she has been altered.

  
The first sip is calming, familiar, peaceful. It tastes fine, but it doesn’t compare to whenever Nate prepares it for her. She can’t figure out what he does differently, maybe he does it exactly the same. Perhaps it was changed simple by passing from his hands to hers. She’d been tempted to call him when she’d first shot awake still caught in the nightmare, but hadn’t wanted to risk waking him. Not that he would be upset. He was always so wiling to be there for her. It wasn’t something Dinah was used to. Affection and attention were something to be earned, fought for.

  
At least that was what she had believed as a child. If she was finally enough then maybe Rebecca would be like the other moms. She would come to the science faire and take her out to celebrate her hard work afterwards. She would take her shopping for back to school clothes. She’d be there.

  
In college, she’d thought if she’d just figure out how to be a better girlfriend then Bobby’s eyes wouldn’t roam. For half a moment she’d almost convinced herself it was her own fault he’d stolen her work. If only she’d been more supportive then he wouldn’t have needed to steal it.

  
She knows now how wrong that line of think is, but old habits die hard. There were still moments when she worried that Nate would realize how defective she truly is. There are many things that she hopes Nate will never come to realize.

  
Dinah grabs her cup and moves to the living room. A sudden need to move overcoming her. She stops and gazes out of the living room window. A thin layer of mist, which will burn off as soon as the sun rises, coats the scene. She thinks she sees movement across the street and her eyes search the darkness. She can’t see anything unusual and after a moment she dismisses it as nothing more than a stray cat. She laughs at herself softly. The residual fear of the nightmare, and her new knowledge of the world, making her quick to believe that monsters lurk in the darkness. But Wayhaven is peaceful tonight, the streetlights casting the familiar streets in a soft romantic glow.

  
She sighs trying to banish the guilt that had overcame her while thinking of Nate. There are things she doesn’t want to remember. Memories and thoughts of green eyes that she wishes to replace with brown. Words whispered in a darkened room.  
“I wish it were only me.”

  
Perhaps the worst part was not knowing if Adam remembered it, or if she was stuck as the only one holding that memory. Did the drugs wipe it away? He’d avoided her and in many ways she’s grateful for that, but some moments their eyes still meet and its as if the oxygen has been sucked from the room. There are moments where she will notice him begin to move, to reach, to close the space between them only to pull back, always pulling away.

  
She wishes she could forget the words instead of being left to wonder. She wishes she could commit her whole heart to Nate. Nate who was so different. Nate who didn’t need the deniability of drugs or the specter of death to say how he feels.

  
The tea is gone, and while the effects of the nightmare may have faded Dinah knows sleep will still allude her. Closing the curtain, she heads to the bathroom to see if a shower will wash away the discomfort of her thoughts.

Adam frowns. Why is her light on this late? His patrol has been uneventful. A welcome lull in activity occurring ever since the carnival had moved on. His night has been spent moving in a circuitous route through the quiet streets of the town. It’s only been interrupted by the occasional racoon rummaging through the trash or barking dog.  
If this happens to be his third time passing by the detective’s apartment building it only makes sense. While his duty is to protect everyone in Wayhaven, the reason they are here is Detective Greene. His purpose is to protect her, to keep her safe.

  
After a moment, the curtain twitches and Dinah steps into sight. He steps back into the shadows in the nick of time, as he watches her eyes linger on the place where he had just stood. He takes inventory of her looking for danger or distress. She looks tired and upset. Her eyes half-lidded and heavy. Her hair is piled haphazardly in a bun on top of her head. It reminds him, with a pang, of the weeks they had spent crowded in the apartment with her. The sweet torment of her heartbeat always there on the edge of his consciousness.  
He’s grateful that he knows Nate is away at the facility helping with translation. He doesn’t have to worry that he will join her in the window. That he will have to watch his oldest friend take her in his arms to comfort her. To watch Nate act out all the desires Adam keeps buried.

  
She is safe. He should move on, continue the patrol, but the only place he wants to go is to her door. He cannot trust his body to not cross the distance between them, to pull her into his arms and attempt to soothe and ease whatever fears and anxieties have kept her from sleep. He would fail at it anyway; those are not skills he has. It’s just one more reason why she deserves Nate instead of him.

  
After a minute or two Dinah turns away from the window and Adam is able to continue on his patrol. The image of her pained expression does not leave him, and he spends the rest of the night wondering the cause and fearing that he already knows.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @amlovelies
> 
> comments make my day :)


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